Julep Lucky Mystery Box Review + Coupon – March 2015

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Most of the time I can resist a Julep Mystery Box since I have way too much nail polish as it is with subscription boxes. But since this mystery box featured two colors I didn’t have, and Julep’s mystery boxes have been pretty great lately, I went for it!

FYI – this box is supposed to be sold out – but I just checked their site and it still available!

These are the two polishes that are guaranteed in every mystery box. I love that Julep is making exclusive shades just for mystery boxes – it helps to know you won’t get a box full of polish duplicate shades!

I like both of these shades – the Darby seems to be more of a micro-glitter, and the Dawnelle is a mixed metal glitter.

I’ve sampled this mascara before and I like it, but I don’t love it. I have other mascaras that give me more length and volume. For some reason I have never loved any of Julep’s mascara formulas, but I love their eyeliners!

Liz is the founder of My Subscription Addiction. She’s been hooked on subscription boxes since 2011 thanks to Birchbox, and she now subscribes to over 100 boxes. Her favorites include POPSUGAR Must Have, FabFitFun, and any box that features natural beauty products!

All views in this review are the opinion of the author. My Subscription Addiction will never accept payment in exchange for a review, but will accept a box at no cost to provide honest opinions on the box. This post may contain affiliate/referral links. Read the complete My Subscription Addiction disclosure.

28 Comments

Yogamom67
March 22, 2015 at 8:39 pm

This will be my last month with Julep. I was lucky enough to subscribe with the “Get three boxes for the price of two coupon,” so I don’t feel like I’m out too much money for this subscription. However, last month I purchased one of their mystery boxes for $19.99 and it basically included two of the three items that I received in my regular Maven box. Overall, I don’t feel like this subscription is what you’d call a good bang for the buck! I am not that into nail polish, the items are basically repeats every month, there is nothing new to discover, and I could order any of these products from their website if I wanted to – so why receive them in a subscription box?

The discount just isn’t enough to make it worthwhile. I feel like there are so many other beauty and lifestyle boxes out there that provide a much greater value for my money.

I have had good luck with their customer service so far. I appreciate the comments and tips about canceling my subscription, however. I will call customer service. It irritates me that I need to do this, as everything else can be done online and I think that a really good subscription service doesn’t need to make canceling so difficult. It says a lot about a company when they make signing up so easy and canceling so hard!

By the way, my mystery box looked nothing like the one reviewed above! I received only one box with my mystery box items and my monthly Julep Maven box items in it together.

There were only three products in my mystery box – a lip liner, an overnight facial masque, and a lipstick that I was really excited to try, but ended up being a terrible color for me. I received the SAME lip liner and facial masque as part of my monthly box and since the items were all packaged together, I didn’t know which products were part of my mystery box and which products were part of my Maven box. It was all very confusing and very disappointing.

The three products I received in my mystery box certainly didn’t seem to have a value of $70! I think I would have been better off spending the $20 at Birchbox!

You might want to reach out to Julep’s customer service. Something sounds off with your orders. I’ve been a Maven for several months, and I’ve ordered several mystery boxes. The two have *never* come in the same box.

Thanks for your response. I actually did reach out to Julep’s Customer Service to ask what was what! They sent me a list of what was supposed to be in each box and there was actually one item missing from my mystery box and they kindly sent a replacement very quickly.

However, they didn’t comment on the products being put in one box together. They emailed me a list of what should be in each box. This is how I knew that there wasn’t a screw up as far as the repeat of the mask and lip liner being in the same box.

As far as the $70 value – it certainly didn’t seem that way to me. The lip liner is on sale on their website for $7 and I think the mask is $28. Since the lipstick was a miss, I was bummed. To be fair, I haven’t tried the mask, yet – so it may be absolutely awesome and once I have a chance to use it, I’ll change my mind about the value of this box completely.

I have to remember, I only spent $20 for my “mystery box.” I think it was because I’d also spent $20 for my regular Maven box and for $40, I got 6 products – 2 of the same masks, 2 of the same lip liner, a lip stick, and an eye liner. I did get a bonus nail polish that I gave to one of my nieces, which was fun.

Anyways, thanks for your comment. I’ve learned a lot from this website and it’s always helpful to find out what worked for someone else!

The mystery box is supposed to be a $100 value, and it was supposed to include two exclusive nail polishes, Darby and Dawnelle. Something is still amiss with your orders. I hope they can straighten it out for you.

Michelle
March 26, 2015 at 3:19 pm

Yes, I know exact what happened to you Yogamom! During our Maven selections in March we had the option to select the “Wow! Beauty lovers Mystery Box” for $70+ worth of beauty items. I also selected this, I was intrigued and like some of their beauty products and for $19.99 I thought, why not? Well I’m sure we got some of the same items from the sound of things…I got the plush pout in Cardinal red, which looks much better on me than the Stepping Out color from their new lip line! I mean holy mother is that color bright!! I also got one of their eyeshadows in Terra, an eyeliner in Olive, the Night Shift Sleep Mask and yellow polish, I would have never bought but am glad to have for nail art or something. Overall it added up to (at full retail value) to be close to $100. I feel like I got my money out of it just by getting the mask alone for $19.99, it retails for a lot more, and I’ll see about the other stuff. Maybe I’ll try to swap or sell to get what I want or money back. Or learn to love it! I have to say I was quite excited getting such a big box with two little boxes in it, not realizing I ordered the mystery box and thinking for an hour or so Julep added this stuff because it took them SO long to ship my box this past month, lol. I was like, “This is customer service!!” haha but no…just the free polish for my box being 3 weeks late.

Melissa
March 22, 2015 at 10:20 pm

I agree with Ashley – something is off here. I would also like to note: The mystery box value is based off of full retail value, not sale prices. The products are *not* the same every month. Each month several new colors are released as well as a new beauty product, so there is always something new to discover. Once the Maven boxes have all been received, the new products are available for individual purchase.

You know, as I re-read your post, I realized what happened. We are talking about the Lucky Mystery Box. I believe that you are referring to the Beauty Mustery box that was available as an add on with the March Maven box. We’re talking about two completely different products here. Mystery solved (no pun intended).

There are 2 versions of this month’s mystery box (or maybe more, but I have only heard of 2 confirmed). I received version 2 (this is clearly stated on the invoice). My version included the decals, Go Big mascara, polish corrector pen, and the 2 guaranteed polishes (Darby and Dawnelle), but instead of Marion, Catrina, and Camille, I received Lola (a midnight blue with a satin finish (which I’m swapping)), Marla (a burgandy velvet with silver shimmer), and Nadia (a pale yellow shimmer). I was pretty happy with the box, even though I would have preferred to get Camille. I already have Marion and I don’t want Catrina.

I was hesitant to get the mystery box, but I took a chance. I really like most of what I was sent, although I got that same yellow you did & am not very fond of that. I wish I had the colors with me so I could say what I rec’d, but no such luck. I’m at work, they’re at home. I got this one that was a blood red that was absolutely beautiful, and a gold glitter polish that matches beautifully with the red. I purchased an extra in the color “Nedra” that is also a great color. Its’ a grayish blue, opaque in

This was my first order from Julep and I’m having mixed feelings about it. I really loved the look of the last couple of mystery boxes from Liz’s reviews, so I jumped at this one. I was hoping for a neutral color or two and an eyeliner as those seem to be well reviewed. I also used the coupon code for the lipstick welcome box, as I thought the neutral color of the lip crayon included would be good. Also, that welcome box had a red nail polish and what looked to me to be a lighter polish, that I though would be good on me. I also added on a base coat as I am currently all out.

However, I don’t really love the colors I got. The green is okay for St Pats, but Dawnelle didn’t look like I expected in person, I don’t really have a lot of use for yellow and blue polish, and the color from the welcome box that looked red on my monitor is more of a bright pinkish orange in person. I’m kicking myself for placing such a big order… I should have started with a regular free welcome box and just seen how I liked things. I feel like I didn’t use the coupon code wisely (you can just pick one code to use per order, right?)

Anyway. Now that I have a crazy amount of polish, I am debating whether I should cancel completely given that I pretty much struck out completely, or wait and see what the next months box is (in case it has more usable-for-me colors), or place an order with my 50% off welcome code to just dive in wholeheartedly and choose some colors I actually like and a top coat.

I just joined Julep subscription services and I am trying to locate this mystery box you all keep talking about. I am unable to do so,or is there some trick I do not know. Because the box looks awesome! Thanks =-)

I think it has sold out, or they’re not offering it anymore. Julep usually has a mystery box for sale every month, but they’re only available for a limited time. There should be a new one in April. Liz will post something about it on this website when it becomes available. 🙂

I actually liked this box even though it was mostly nail polishes. I even liked the yellow one, and I’m not a fan of yellow at all. I haven’t tried any of them yet though and liked getting but the polish correcter, but others said it wasn’t good. I’ve never tried a Julep mascara, so lil excited about that.

I got these exact same items. The only thing I was disappointed in was that I received another Go Big mascara. I just got it in a mystery box in January, I think. I guess that’s the risk I take when I buy every. single. one. of their mystery boxes. haha But, I haven’t received a duplicate polish or other product yet, so I don’t like that they included the mascara again. At least send out the Length Matters one, which I’ve been wanting to try. Oh well. I’m sure I’ll still buy the April mystery box. lol

Leah, Yes, I think that they were supposed to be included in all the Lucky Mystery boxes. Please don’t feel stupid – none of us had any way of knowing they would be included in the mystery box when they were offered as an add-on to the Maven box for March.

It hasn’t been a lucky month (no pun intended) for me with missing items! Because this was a mystery box, I didn’t realize I was missing a polish until I saw other unboxings on Instagram! Once again, social media saves the day! Lol They immediately sent out a replacement for Marion, the shade i was missing.
I’m not thrilled with this box overall. When they said each box contains a BIG surprise, I wasnt thinking of a mascara named “BIG”. I haven’t read a lot of great things about the mascara formula but I’ll give this one a shot.
The other problem I had with it was the inclusion of Camille (the white glittery top coat). I usually do the “mystery polish” add-on in my monthly Maven box. This month was no different. One of those mystery add-ons was Camille (offered for $3.99). So getting it AGAIN in this box, knowing that it was so drastically discounted, definitely made me feel like they’re trying to get rid of it and just threw it in. Also, I tried the pen and it isn’t amazing, not more so than any other I’ve used. It hardly worked at all getting Darby off. Seems like a common problem with these pens and glitter polish though.

I don’t know….wasn’t their best. I’m definitely waiting for spoilers before I buy next time.

Is it a typo that this is a $105 box? At the end it reads “…great value for a 105 box.”

On the issue of missing “guaranteed” items that are still clearly for sale, I’d keep contacting Julep CS, screenshot the site showing the shades that are still for sale that you didn’t get and for which you were to select a replacement, and ask again “how is it you can sell the exact polish you told me was out of stock, that was guaranteed to be in each mystery box but wasn’t?” You shouldn’t have to choose an alternate if they still have the polish in stock. Maybe they replenished their stock? Or maybe it was a less than knowledgable CS rep? The latter is my choice.

Now I’m really confused. As I said in a previous post, I got 2 Darby but no Dawnelle which I was upset with because Dawnelle was why I got the box. When I wrote cs they said they were sold out of Dawnelle and to pick a different color to replace it. I thought that was weird since the box was still on sale and now Missy is saying it’s STILL on sale now, plus Liz is saying those 2 colors were supposed to be guaranteed and if they are exclusive to the box, it won’t be too easy for me to get it later as I’d planned. I’ve only been with Julep 4 months and this was my first mystery box so I didn’t know the ins and outs. Any thoughts?

I would call Julep rather than email and point out that they were/are still selling the box which should have all the polishes in it. Tell them you’re upset and feel that they could try harder to put things right.
Good luck!

There is no way I’d settle for that response! Pick another color? No way! If they can’t provide you with what they guaranteed, then they need to refund your money. If they don’t, file a grievance with your bank.

I have a love hate relationship with Julep in the interest of full disclosure.

I wasn’t going to order this one either but like yourself I couldn’t resist because their mystery boxes have been awesome! I ordered mine yesterday, i had read it was suppose to end yesterday but it’s still available. I took your advice and ordered the free polish, I got Bridgette(it’s a bright satin white). I’ve never tried any of juleps mascar as yet so I’m excited to try it. I love that teal polish you got and the sparky top coat! I was wondering though did u order an extra polish with that order?